Approach
Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum
The Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum at Parklands Educate Together aims to teach children our core expectations To prepare them to be good citizens of the future.
Exemplary behaviour is one of our unspoken expectations and at Parklands, we make it easy for children to show expected behaviour and hard not to through the following means:
*We have clear and concise routines, rewards and consequences that everyone follows.
*We explicitly teach, rather than tell, children how to behave
*We ensure all adults are calm, consistent and fair in their response to behaviour
*We focus explicitly on positive behaviour. We recognise, describe and explain what we want to see.
*We adapt our approaches, where needed, for specific children with additional needs.
Our Behaviour Curriculum is driven by:
- Ambition: Providing an education for all children, free from disruption, that enables us to focus on raising academic standards and whole school continuous improvement.
- Equity: Ensuring all children in our school receive the same opportunities and support as those in highest performing schools across the country and that excellent child behaviour is central to achieving this aim.
We develop children’s character through our carefully curated Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum. To build character, we define the behaviours and habits that we expect our children to demonstrate. We want to support our children to grow into adults who are respectful, resilient, collaborative, independent, ambitious, and who always consider others. We believe that as children practise these behaviours, over time they become automatic routines that positively shape how they feel about themselves and how other people perceive them. Our behaviour curriculum is:
- Taught - explicit teaching, whole-school routines, assemblies, rewards and consequences, character curriculum, parental support
- Caught - opportunities for children to show the behaviour and character habits we expect and observe others, staff modelling
- Sought - ambassadors, child societies, wider opportunities
Our Behaviour Curriculum involves explicit teaching of routines and behaviours, rewards and consequences for behaviour, safe spaces for children when they need some calm time or time alone to reflect, our character curriculum (including class family time, brain state model, zones of regulation, restorative practice) which all supports our children to develop a sense of belonging within our school family, local community and the wider world.
Motivation
Teaching our Behaviour Curriculum
Our Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum is explicitly taught during the first week of the school year. Children learn the content of the curriculum so that they are able to recall the information and act on it. Our Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum will be revisited at the beginning of every term. These are called ‘creating culture’ days. The elements of the Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum will frequently be revisited and reinforced throughout the year.
As with other curriculum content, this is taught using explicit teaching. Our teachers also demonstrate these behaviours and ensure children have time to practise. For example, our lining up routine is taught in the classroom but reinforced in different locations and times throughout the school day e.g., at lunchtime, in assembly and moving to different groups. It is expected that all children know this content. Through our Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum, we teach outstanding behaviour through clear expectations, routines and opportunities for all staff and children to rehearse, model and refine these behaviours.
We want our children to understand how and why we behave and to have frequent opportunities to practise doing so, for these behaviours to become intrinsic in their day-to-day lives. Our Behaviour Curriculum is designed to be accessible for children from EYFS to Year Six and curriculum adjustments are made to suit the needs of all children including those with SEND and other additional needs – we want every child to have the best chance of success.
Doug Lemov states, ‘Children should never have to ask themselves, “What am I supposed to be doing?” when they enter the classroom, nor should they be able to claim not to know what they should be doing. You want children to know what to do and to know there is no ambiguity here.’
The quote above perfectly summarises the rationale behind our teaching approach. In order for children to show the expected behaviours, they must not only be explicitly taught the how and why, but be given ample opportunities to rehearse, practice and refine their behaviour.
During the first week of the school year, where the Behaviour and Relationship Curriculum is introduced and explicitly taught, we have a ‘Creating Culture week’ – this week is dedicated to introducing and rehearsing behaviours. Our Behaviour Curriculum is based on a firm foundation of research such as Rosenshine’s principles of instruction and Willingham’s ideas about memory. Children can improve their confidence and fluency of behaviour routines and expectations by engaging in plenty of practice – so our curriculum is designed to do just that. Our teachers dedicate plenty of time over the first few weeks reminding, practising and reinforcing these behaviours and continue to do so throughout the year, as necessary.
Good behaviour in schools is central to a good education. Schools need to manage behaviour well so they can provide calm, safe and supportive environments which children and young people want to attend and where they can learn and thrive. Being taught how to behave well and appropriately within the context they’re in is vital for all pupils to succeed personally. (Behaviour in schools guidance, 2022).
Approach
'Creating a Culture' Days
Our Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum is taught explicitly during our 'Creating a Culture' days during the first week of the year. Children learn the content of the curriculum so that they can recall the information and act upon it. At the start of each term, the Behaviour Curriculum is revisited with children through 'Create a Culture' days and will continue to be reinforced throughout the year. As with other curriculum content, this is taught using explicit teaching based on the ten principles of instruction from Rosenshine. Our teachers also demonstrate these behaviours and ensure children have time to practise.
Assemblies
We have whole school assemblies that include explicit teaching of our Behaviour Curriculum and opportunities to come together as a school family to learn and discuss our routines and character habits.
Retrieval, review, and revision
We have ongoing retrieval and review of our Behaviour Curriculum and provide many opportunities for children to ask questions and for teachers to check for understanding. Our Behaviour Curriculum content is retrieved and reviewed throughout the year on a daily basis.
Assessment
Ongoing formative assessment is used by staff to drive instruction of the Behaviour Curriculum, create a positive culture, and support all children to acquire our character habits and core expectations of being ‘ready, respectful and safe’
